Progressive Muscular Atrophy
Progressive muscular atrophy that is PMA is very rare subtype of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). It is responsible for affecting the lower motor neurons.
What is Progressive Muscular Atrophy?
This subtype affects only the lower motor neurons and causes fasciculation and atrophy. The disease can be noted if there is difficulties such as brisk reflexes, babinski sign and spasticity related to upper motor neuron.
Patients with PMA lives longer than patients with ALS and the symptoms can be limited to the legs or arms for long period and it can spread to all over body. The progressive muscular atrophy is of two subtypes, one with leg distribution and other with patchy distribution.
Muscle atrophy is nothing but a decrease in the mass of the muscle. However, there are many diseases that cause decrease in mass. But muscular atrophy is the condition that decreases both quality of life and mass that the sufferer becomes unable to perform some specific and daily tasks.
Change in balance between protein degradation and synthesis is responsible for muscle atrophy. There may be down-regulation of the pathways of protein synthesis during atrophy. During this system, ligation targets some particular proteins.
Symptoms of PMA:
The symptoms of Progressive Muscular Atrophy includes,
- Fasciculations: It is small, involuntary and local muscle contraction, which is visible under the skin from the occurrence of the spontaneous discharge of the muscle fibers of skeletal.
- Atrophy: The atrophy that is loss of mass and strength can occur after prolonged immobility including extended bedrest or bodypart in cast that is darkness for the eye and bedridden for the legs. It can be reversed with exercise. However, atrophy can cause because of various diseases such as AIDS, cancer etc.
- Muscle weakness: It is also known as muscle fatigue, which is the inability to apply force on muscles. Muscle weakness is very important in testing the strength that is used in the diagnosis of the muscular disorder before the identification of etiology. There are some locations of muscle weaknesses such as neural, central and peripheral. There is overall exhaustion of the body in central muscle weakness and in peripheral weakness, the exhaustion happens to individual muscles. Neural weakness may happen in between.
